The UN Sustainable Development Goals can create economic development in the Arctic

01.12.2017 09:39

Today the Danish Minister for Foreign Affairs and his Greenlandic colleague Suka K. Frederiksen is hosting an international high-level conference at Eigtveds Pakhus.With the SDGs as the starting point the conference will focus on economic development in the Arctic region. The conference is a part of the implementation of the Danish government’s Foreign and Security Policy Strategy 2017-18 and will be opened by His Royal Highness the Crown Prince of Denmark.

Minister for Foreign Affairs Anders Samuelsen says: "The Arctic is a region of change, and new opportunities are emerging. It is the government's aim to focus on attracting more investments to the Arctic, including to Greenland, so that the populations can experience economic development in a sustainable manner. With the conference today we, together with Greenland, want to send a strong signal that there is a need for an increased economic focus in the Arctic cooperation."

Further, Mr. Samuelsen adds: "I look forward to hearing the participants' ideas as to how the UN Sustainable Development Goals can work as a catalyst for economic development in the Arctic. I expect that we will get some good suggestions as to how Greenland and other parts of the Arctic can take advantage of the new opportunities – while still taking care of the fragile environment. "

The conference is organized by Denmark, Greenland, the Faroe Islands and the Arctic Economic Council and will have participation from all Arctic states. The main goal of the conference is to bring together the Arctic business community, international players, the UN and the EU to discuss how the SDGs can contribute to putting sustainable development of the Arctic region on the agenda. The SDGs were unanimously adopted in 2015 by all 193 UN member states. They consist of 17 goals that apply to all countries and balance the three dimensions of sustainable development: economic, social and environmental aspects. While the challenges that the Arctic peoples face span across all three dimensions, creating sustainable economic growth through e.g. increased employment, innovation, infrastructure projects, export and tourism is the primary challenge.

The conference "Sustainable Development Goals in the Arctic - Local and Global Perspectives" will take place in Eigtveds Pakhus with more than 250 participants including CEO of UN Global Compact, Lise Kingo, CEO of the Norwegian Shipowners' Association, Sturla Henriksen, as well as special Arctic representatives from Canada, Finland, Norway, Sweden and Japan.

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